Food Technology encourages many aspects of a student’s learning at a primary and secondary school level. The framework of the subject provides a smorgasbord of advantages for students including access to science in a practical way, transferable skills, experience for fantastic employment prospects (3.9million people are employed in the UK food industry) and most of all: skills and nutritional lessons for life.

None of these lessons could take place if it wasn’t for the equipment and format of the Food Technology classroom. Like STEM subjects, Art and Design and Technology classrooms, Food Technology rooms have specific components and the right ingredients to support student learning and teacher accessibility.

So grab your apron, maybe a whisk, and discover some of the most popular Food Technology classroom design elements you need to consider below.

Health & safety served with a side of hygiene

Food health and safety is a little bit more than splashing water on your hands and smearing them on your trousers to ‘dry’. The kitchen is an area that presents more hazards than most with high temperatures and sharp objects as part of the process. But how can the design of a classroom help to maintain good health and safety practices?

Open plan food technology classrooms with plenty of space for the facilitation of movement enable teachers to move throughout the class easily and quickly to an area if a student needs urgent attention.

Supervision, especially when it comes to using knives or other sharp utensils, is an important behaviour tool and teachers should be able to have a complete, unhindered view of the class. This will hopefully discourage bad or silly behaviour as students will be aware that the teacher can see them at all times.

Burns and scalds aren’t uncommon in a cooking environment and for less severe incidents, students should have immediate access to cold running water. Sinks are also essential for providing water to use during cooking.

Durable surfaces that won’t Al Dente

As they say, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs and you definitely can’t create a food technology classroom that can’t handle the heat. Any school environment has to endure a lot but food technology classrooms should be able to take a real grilling. Sizzling pans, hot oil, sauces, knife cuts and student tampering are just a few of the things a food technology surface will have to deal with.

The material of any food technology classroom design should be clean and visually pleasing but it should also be resistant and highly-durable. It should not absorb substances and needs to be a consistent surface that will not retain grime and spills.

At Hounslow Heath Junior School, Benchmark Products designed and provided a clean, hygienic, open design food technology classroom that used long runs of hard-wearing worktop in white with a flush fixture to the wall skirting. Combined with stainless steel sink and easy-clean white goods, health and safety and hygiene will be easy to upkeep.

Equipment straight off the menu, or to order

No two food technology rooms designs are the same. Our experienced team will work closely with you to ensure that your vision is fully realised. Whether you consider your requirements to be standard or unusual, Benchmark Products have the manufacturing skills, material range and premium facilities at our UK-based factory to create furniture exactly how you need it.

We consider every element of your design with the most up-to-date, hygiene focused technology that works with your budget and space limitations. At Heathland Primary School, we made sure to work closely with the architect and client to establish “must-haves” and health and safety criteria.

Benchmark was required to manufacture and install the project within a very short lead time. The bespoke features that had to be incorporated required a high level of coordination and careful planning between all trades, in order to achieve the desired outcome on time and within budget.

The school now has a dynamic and highly practical food technology classroom full of flavour.

We also provide height-adjustable workstations to meet DDA requirements and will always design with space for wheelchair and accessibility in mind.

Storage solutions to help you get Sautéd

Once you have storage, you just need something to fillet with. Food technology, perhaps more than almost any subject, will require teachers to have lots of different equipment and in fairly sizeable quantities. Even a class of 30 working in threes will need ten pots or pans or plates and triple the amount of utensils.

Storing equipment efficiently not only keeps an environment safe but encourages students to stay tidy. If students know exactly where something is supposed to go they will be more inclined to replace it as it’s less hassle. Organised storage also allows teachers to check on stock levels and maintain a dedicated area for sharps that are dangerous when just thrown into cluttered cupboards.

Fresh designs for your palette in 2020

The design of your food technology classroom needs to encourage students to be interested. Healthy eating and attitudes toward food are as much of a societal and governmental concern and food technology classrooms are a great place to educate children on how they can help themselves to stay fitter and healthier.

We use modern, certified goods and high-quality materials to provide designs that are seamless, contemporary and hygienic.

At Benchmark Products, it is our aim to create classrooms exactly how you require them. Contact us today to discuss your requirements on 01953 889 603 or email enquiries@benchmarkproducts.co.uk

This article was written by Dean Fryer, Estimator at Benchmark FF&E Solutions since 2012.

Passionate about the collaboration between sub-contractors on-site and a demonstrated history in assisting building contractors and architects with producing comprehensive and definitive schedules at pre-tender and pre-contract stage, Dean is an invaluable asset to Benchmark Products and contributes towards the end goal of perfect delivery every time.